Barren Yokrshire moors, England, 19th century. During a winter storm, a man enters an isolated cottage in search for shelter. After imagining he heard someone say said the words "Cathy", the owner, Heathcliff, runs outside. Housekeeper Ellen tells Heathcliff's tale: 40 years ago, the owner of the house, Mr. Earnshaw, returns from his trip in Liverpool with an orphaned gypsy kid, Heathcliff, and adopts him. Mr. Earnshaw's biological children act differently: Catherine becomes his friend, but Hindley hates and abuses Heathcliff. When Mr. Earnshaw dies, Hindley turns Heathcliff into a servant. Heathcliff falls in love with Catherine, but she marries the rich Edgar Linton, their neighbor. Heathcliff returns from America as a rich man and marries Edgar's sister, Isabella. When Catherine falls ill, she kisses Heathcliff before she dies. Back in the present, Heathcliff dies in search for Catherine in the snow.
Described as the best film adaptation of Emily Brontë's eponymous classic and her only novel, William Wyler's "Wuthering Heights" is a tragic meditation on unrequited love. It explores this through the relationship of the main couple, which is hindered by social circumstances: Catherine decides to ignore her love for the adopted Heathcliff, who is full of vitality, but poor, in order to marry Edgar, who is a wimp, but rich, which underwent several thematic interpretations—she aims for climbing up the social hierarchy (which is given an interesting twist when Heathcliff returns later as a rich man himself, thereby obtaining "equal status" in order to adapt to her needs); or for dedicating herself to nurturing reason at the expense of completely neglecting her passion and nature; the detrimental nature of stubbornness; whereas others have even seen the story as a secret incestuous fantasy. A fascinating dialogue between them manifests when Heathcliff comments her empty marriage with Edgar: "If he loved you with all the power of his soul for a whole lifetime he couldn't love you as much as I do in a single day."
Another strong quote arrives when Heathcliff is torn between sadness and anger: "Cathy, I never broke your heart. You broke it! Cathy, you loved me! What right did you have to throw away love?" Laurence Olivier delivers one of his finest performances as Heathcliff, showing both his brutish and vulnerable nature in one, whereas the desolate barren land in the middle of nowhere gives the film a touch of isolation. The highlight is the long sequence where a woman plays Mozart's "Rondo Alla Turca" while all is said in just the facial expression of Catherine and Heathcliff who watch each other at the party, in a moment of exquisite subtlety. Some small omissions bother here and there, though, preventing "Wuthering Heights" to turn into a true classic equal to the best movies appearing in 1939, one of the strongest movie years in American cinema: it is never explained how Heathcliff found his fortune; his more morbid elements from the book were toned down in favor of a more romantic approach; the final act from the book is omitted; the ending is rushed whereas a couple of melodramatic moments "slip" in several scenes.
Grade:+++
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